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Friday, March 18, 2016

kraft tex pouch

You guys, have you ever sewn with Kraft Tex? It's this super interesting strong paper that sort of looks and feels like leather. Quite intriguing, isn't it? It seems like it's been around for a while now but I was only properly "introduced" to it when Sandie, who was testing my newest tote pattern (which is coming out really soon), made a stunning bag using Kraft Tex.

So, of course as soon as I spotted a roll of this mysterious paper at my local fabric store I grabbed it and got to work right away.

And, I decided to go a step further and screen print on it before I sewed it into a pouch. I'm happy to say screen printing went really well, I even heat set it the way I would regular fabric (I set iron to cotton/linen setting and pressed it for 2 minutes).

Once I heat set the fabric I decided to make a simple pouch. Nothing complicated, just two exterior panels, zipper, and a lining. I used a 100/16 needle on my sewing machine and the thickest thread I had on hand, and I used Wonder Clips to hold layers together as pins would cause damage and leave permanent marks.

Sewing this pouch was pretty easy and the only time I questioned this whole idea was when I needed to turn the pouch right side out. It was tricky, mostly because I really worried about ripping the stitches out. Thankfully they stayed in and I quite like the new, little bit rugged and "worn" look all that handling gave to the finished pouch.

All in all, this was a fun new experience and I'm sure I'll be using Kraft Tex in my future projects. I think a simple tote bag with leather handles is a must :).

12 comments:

Yes, I've used it once, thought it was cool, and bought three rolls of the stuff! Of course, I haven't pulled them out since. It looks like, aside from the screen printing, that you didn't otherwise prep the Kraft Tex before sewing. I haven't seen too many finished projects with this material, so I'm all ears when it comes to advice for sewing with it!

LOL I'm glad you found some and were able to play! I have read that wetting the item helps with turning... I did wet the corners of my bag before turning them out and then just pressed with a dry iron to dry and that worked fine. Have a great weekend!

I have ventured into using this stuff too. My first attempts were fails - stitches too close together which perforated the kraft-tex, tearing it. I did prep it ahead of time - soaked/worked it in hot soapy water. On my third attempt to sew with it I also pre-conditioned it with mink oil and that helped a lot. It soaked into the kraft-tex and made it more pliable. I've also read that you can sew with it wet, which makes it softer as well.

Just picked up some of this and am going to make the Betsy Bag, thanks for the inspiration, will try the pouch with my leftovers. Do you think I could make marks on it with a Sharpie? I don't have any screen printing experience or supplies....

What a great idea to make a pouch with it! I've used that paper fabric before for bookmarks and needle cards, but nothing dimensional. And look at you screen printing it too! You've really created your own look in the past few years.